Reimagining our Future

As we enter into the season of giving thanks, I can’t help but be reminded of how thankful I was last year around this time to be surrounded by new Ohana experiencing the healing magic of Camp Koru (you can read more about that experience here). Looking back, I could have never guessed the challenging times that lay ahead. I could have never imagined that 2020 would bring a year of no camps. No in-person community of survivors, brought together by trauma and tragedy, embarking on the physical, emotional, and mental healing that Project Koru is known for. 

Instead, we were met with the challenge of discovering ourselves as an organization that serves an immunocompromised population in the middle of a deadly pandemic. We found ourselves lost at sea without a compass.

We realized quickly that we had to not only acclimate to the stormy sea but also learn how to use the rough water to accelerate us to bigger, reimagined goals.  

So far, we’ve:

• Virtually hosted our biggest fundraising event, Kiteboard 4 Cancer, which allowed us to connect with athletes and cancer survivors around the world. 

• Created Koru Communities, our new virtual programs. We’ve held over 75 programs so far this year, with over 350 survivors in attendance.

• Formed an Equity and Inclusion Committee, which works to better understand diverse needs in the young adult cancer community and strengthen the organization to feel welcoming to all.

• Taken time to reflect on who we are and how we can better serve our community.

We are proud of how far we’ve come, and we couldn’t have done it without our community of survivors, donors, supporters, and friends.   From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU.  

We know there is much more work to do. As the pandemic draws on, our waitlist has grown to over 450 survivors who desperately need the support of our community.

Our goal is to expand our programming as soon as it’s safe to do so, through an increased number of programs for those on the waitlist and existing PK survivors.  

As we raise funds to bring this goal to fruition, we invite the whole PK community to ride out the swells alongside us and help us get there.  We know we can do this, together.

Humbly,

Beth Peck

Executive Director

Project Koru